Tag: API Development

Guide to Creating an API Product and Grouping APIs in WSO2 API Manager

Posted on by shyam

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the steps, make sure you have the following in place:

  • WSO2 API Manager installed and running.
  • Admin access to WSO2 API Manager.
  • APIs already created and published that you want to group into a product.

Step 1: Log in to the API Publisher

To start, you need to log in to the WSO2 API Publisher.

  • Open your web browser and navigate to the WSO2 API Publisher portal.
  • Log in using your administrative credentials.

This will take you to the main dashboard where you can manage your APIs and products.

Step 2: Create an API Product

Creating an API Product is the first step towards grouping your APIs under a single entity.

1. Navigate to the API Products Section:

  • Click on the “API Products” tab in the top navigation menu.
  • Click on “Create API Product”.
Navigate to the API Products Section

2. Define API Product Details:

  • Name: Enter a name for your API Product.
  • Context: Provide a context for the API Product (e.g., /product1).
  • Version: Specify the version (e.g., v1).
  • Visibility: Choose the visibility scope (e.g., Public, Restricted, etc.).
Define API Product Details

3. Select APIs to Include in the Product:

  • Click on the “Add APIs” button.
  • Select the APIs you want to include in the product from the list.
  • Click “Add” to include the selected APIs.
Select APIs to Include in the Product

4. Configure API Product Resources:

  • Review and configure the resources from the included APIs.
  • Adjust the resource paths and methods as needed.
Configure API Product Resources

5. Save and Publish:

  • Once all configurations are done, click “Save”.
  • Publish the API Product by clicking “Publish”.
Save and Publish

Step 3: Grouping APIs in the API Product

Grouping APIs allows you to bundle related endpoints together, making it easier to manage and access them.

1. Add API Resources:

  • After selecting APIs, you’ll see a list of resources (endpoints) available in those APIs.
  • Group these resources by selecting the ones you want to bundle together under specific paths.
Grouping APIs in the API Product

2. Define the Grouping Logic:

  • For instance, you can group resources based on functionality (e.g., all user-related endpoints can be grouped together).
  • Use the UI to drag and drop or check/uncheck resources to create logical groupings.
Define the Grouping Logic

Step 4: Configure Policies and Settings

Configuring policies and settings ensures that your API Product is secure, manageable, and aligned with your business goals.

1. Rate Limiting Policies:

  • Apply rate limiting policies to control the usage of the API Product.
  • Set throttling limits to manage the number of requests per minute/hour/day.
Configure Policies and Settings

2. Subscription Tiers:

  • Define subscription tiers that users can select when subscribing to the API Product.
  • Ensure that the tiers align with your business goals and usage policies.
Subscription Tiers

3. Security Settings:

  • Configure security settings such as OAuth2.0 for authentication.
  • Set scopes and roles to manage access control.
Security Settings

Step 5: Test the API Product

Testing your API Product is crucial to ensure that it functions as expected and that developers can use it effectively.

1. Access the API Developer Portal:

  • Switch to the WSO2 API Developer Portal.
Test the API Product
  • Find your published API Product.
Fnid your published API

2. Subscribe and Generate Keys:

  • Subscribe to the API Product using an application.
Subscribe and Generate Keys
  • Generate API keys or tokens required for accessing the APIs.
Generate API keys

3. Invoke the APIs:

  • Use tools like Postman or cURL to send requests to the API endpoints.
  • Ensure that the requests are routed correctly and responses are as expected.
Invoke the APIs

Conclusion

By following these steps, you’ll successfully create API Products and group APIs within WSO2 API Manager. This approach fosters organized API management, facilitates the application of common policies, and enhances the developer experience.

Key Benefits of API Product Creation:

  • Improved Developer Experience: Offers a streamlined and intuitive interface for developers to discover and consume APIs.
  • Enhanced API Management: Simplifies the management of large API portfolios by grouping related APIs together.
  • Effective Policy Enforcement: Enables consistent application of security, rate limiting, and other policies across API Products.
  • Optimized Resource Utilization: Facilitates efficient resource allocation and monitoring.
  • Accelerated Time-to-Market: Speeds up the process of exposing APIs to developers.

Leverage API Products for Business Growth

By effectively utilizing API Products in WSO2 API Manager, you can unlock new revenue streams, foster innovation, and strengthen your digital ecosystem. Consider these additional strategies:

  • Partner Onboarding: Create API Products tailored for specific partner segments to facilitate collaboration.
  • Developer Engagement: Offer comprehensive documentation, support, and developer portals to enhance developer satisfaction.
  • Monetization: Explore various monetization models such as pay-per-use, subscription-based, or freemium options.
  • API Lifecycle Management: Implement robust processes for API creation, testing, deployment, and retirement.

By embracing API Products as a core component of your API strategy, you can position your organization for long-term success in the digital age. For any query or questions on API Product & grouping, please reach out to us at info@tellestia.com

Simplify Your API Management with WSO2 API Manager: A Comprehensive Guide for CIOs

Posted on by Dinesh

What is WSO2 API Manager?

WSO2 API Manager is an open-source solution that provides comprehensive capabilities for managing, monitoring, and securing APIs. It is designed to simplify the process of creating, publishing, and managing APIs, regardless of the technology used to build them. With WSO2 API Manager, businesses can quickly create APIs that can be easily consumed by developers, partners, and customers.

WSO2 API Manager comprises three key components: the API Publisher, the Developer Portal (formerly the API Store), and the Gateway. Let’s explore each of these components in more detail.

The API Publisher

The API Publisher is a web-based tool that allows developers to create and publish APIs. It provides a simple and intuitive interface for developers to define the resources and methods of the API, as well as the security policies that govern its access. The API Publisher also allows developers to test the API before publishing it, ensuring that it works as expected.

For CIOs, the API Publisher provides a centralized platform for managing the API lifecycle. It allows them to define the API specifications, set up security policies, and monitor API usage. This makes it easier to maintain control over the APIs and ensure that they meet business requirements.

The Developer Portal

The Developer Portal (formerly the API Store) provides a platform for developers to discover and consume APIs. It is a self-service portal where developers can browse APIs, view their documentation, and request access. The Developer Portal also allows developers to subscribe to APIs and manage their subscriptions.

For CIOs, the Developer Portal provides a platform for API monetization. It allows businesses to define API pricing, billing, and revenue-sharing policies. CIOs can track API usage and revenue generated through the Developer Portal dashboard. Additionally, the Developer Portal provides a way to track developer feedback and requests, enabling businesses to make informed decisions about their API strategy.

The Gateway

The Gateway is the runtime component of WSO2 API Manager. It processes API requests and enforces security policies, ensuring that only authorized requests are allowed. The Gateway supports a wide range of protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, and MQTT, making it a flexible solution for managing APIs.

For CIOs, the Gateway provides a scalable and secure platform for managing API traffic. It allows businesses to control access to APIs, monitor usage, and enforce security policies. The Gateway also supports advanced features such as caching, rate limiting, and throttling, enabling businesses to optimize API performance and ensure a high-quality user experience.

Analytics

WSO2 API Manager also provides analytics capabilities that help businesses gain insights into API usage and performance. The Analytics component of WSO2 API Manager provides real-time and historical data on API usage, response times, and errors. This helps businesses to identify potential issues and optimize API performance.

How Does WSO2 API Manager Work?

Now that we have explored the components of WSO2 API Manager, let’s look at how it works. The following steps describe the typical workflow for managing APIs using WSO2 API Manager.

Step 1: Define the API Specifications

The first step in managing an API with WSO2 API Manager is to define its specifications. This includes identifying the resources and methods of the API, as well as any security policies that should be applied. This is done using the API Publisher, which provides a simple and intuitive interface for defining API specifications.

Step 2: Test the API

Once the API specifications have been defined, developers can test the API using the API Publisher. This allows them to ensure that the API works as expected before it is published.

Step 3: Publish the API

After the API has been tested and validated, it can be published to the Developer Store (API Store). The Developer Store provides a platform for developers to discover and consume APIs. The Developer Store also allows businesses to promote their APIs and monitor usage.

Step 4: Monitor API Usage

Once the API is published, businesses can monitor its usage using the API Manager dashboard. The dashboard provides real-time insights into API traffic, including the number of requests, response times, and error rates. This allows businesses to identify potential issues and optimize API performance.

Step 5: Enforce Security Policies

WSO2 API Manager provides a comprehensive set of security policies that can be applied to APIs. These include OAuth2, OpenID Connect, and Mutual SSL. These policies ensure that only authorized requests are allowed, and that API traffic is secure and compliant with industry standards.

Step 6: Optimize API Performance

The Gateway component of WSO2 API Manager provides advanced features for optimizing API performance. These include caching, rate limiting, and throttling. These features help to ensure that API traffic is optimized for performance and that users have a high-quality experience.

Step 7: Manage the API Lifecycle

WSO2 API Manager provides a centralized platform for managing the entire API lifecycle. This includes defining API specifications, publishing APIs to the API Store, monitoring API usage, and enforcing security policies. This centralized approach makes it easier for businesses to maintain control over their APIs and ensure that they meet business requirements.

Conclusion

In conclusion, WSO2 API Manager is an open-source solution that provides comprehensive capabilities for managing, monitoring, and securing APIs. It simplifies the process of creating, publishing, and managing APIs, and provides a scalable and secure platform for managing API traffic. Tellestia’s WSO2 API Manager services provides a centralized platform for managing the entire API lifecycle, enabling businesses to maintain control over their APIs and ensure that they meet business requirements.

API Management: Best practices for building & designing an API

Posted on by Dinesh

Best practices to build an API

When it comes to building an API, there are a few best practices that should be followed to create a well-designed, effective, and reliable API.

  • Keep the API simple. The simpler the API, the easier for developers to understand and use. It is vital to ensure that the API is well-documented so that developers can easily find the information they need.
  • Ensure that the API is consistent, i.e., the methods and properties should be named consistently and have the same signature across all of the resources. Additionally, ensure that the API is versioned so that new versions can be released as needed. This will allow developers to keep using the old API version while also leveraging the new features and functionality that are added in the new version.
  • Test the API thoroughly before making it available to developers to ensure that there are no bugs or errors in the API that could cause problems for developers.

By following these best practices, you can create an API that is well-designed, effective, and reliable. And like any other piece of software developed, the modern API has its lifecycle software (SDLC) for designing, testing, building, managing, and executing versions. Also, modern APIs are well-documented for use and translation.

API Preparation

API preparation is critical to the success of any API project. You’ll need to choose an API architectural style, which could be any of the following: REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and Event-Triggered API (Webhook). What are the expectations regarding performance, response times, and data protection?

Here are some tips for preparing your API for success:

  • Define your target audience and what they need from your API.
  • Choose the correct HTTP verbs and status codes for your API endpoints.
  • Design your API URLs to be clean, consistent, and user-friendly.
  • Document your API using a standard format such as GraphQL or OpenAPI Specification.
  • Include error handling in your API design to make it robust and user-friendly.

API Design

The design phase of the API helps determine how it will look and how easy it is to comprehend for the user. Creating a user name and description can be beneficial. It is crucial to build APIs that are simple and intuitive to use. As more and more enterprises move to a microservices architecture, the need for well-designed APIs becomes more critical than ever.

There are a few key considerations when designing an API.

  • Think about the audience for your API.
  • Who will be using it?
  • What sort of applications will they be building?
  • What type of data will they need to access?

It is a good idea to create wireframes of how the API will be used on the client side. It will help developers set up the API and take steps to prepare for future integration, scalability, and development. A developer portal helps promote your API, so spend some time designing the look you want for this resource. Additionally, you should write your APIs’ documentation each step of the way.

API Development

The aim is to use available API developmental tools to build an API that is easy to use, scalable and consistent. But, first

  • Establish an API name, description, and design goal.
  • Build a set of terms and policies that describe the security risks that arise when dealing with consumer data.
  • Ensure you specify the data models that describe the API request and response messages.
  • Create endpoints based on what the user needs.

These requirements must be met for integration, especially if you want to scale the API. And HTTP methods dictate the type of action requested by the server. The most common HTTP methods are GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE – GET requests to fetch data from the server, POST requests to send data to the server, PUT requests to update data on the server, and DELETE requests to delete data on the server.

API Authentication

APIs transmit private data, making authentication crucial, especially in a multi-tenant system. One authentication type is OAuth. OAuth is a standard for authorization that allows users to grant third-party access to their web resources without sharing their passwords. When used in the context of an API, OAuth provides a way for API clients to authenticate themselves without having to share their usernames and password with the API. Instead, API clients use a token issued by the API server after the client has been authenticated. The client can then use this token to make authenticated API requests.

It is particularly essential when you use a public cloud, and several people access it simultaneously. You can control the amount of traffic that hits your API by rate limiting. Protecting your API from being overwhelmed by too much traffic is important, which can lead to performance issues.

API Testing

API testing is a critical part of any API development process. You can ensure that your API meets its functional and performance requirements by testing early and often.

To test an API effectively, you must consider several conditions under different test environments. It includes both functional and performance testing. Functional testing verifies that the API can perform its routine tasks, while performance testing measures how well the API scales and responds to heavy traffic loads. Both tests are essential to ensure that your API is stable and reliable. Further tests that are important are:

  • Unit testing of a single endpoint with a single request and response.
  • Integration testing to see how well your API can be integrated.
  • End-to-end testing, which validates the data between your API connectors.
  • Performance testing.

API Delivery

API delivery is the process of making an API available to developers. This can be done by providing documentation, offering a self-service portal, or making the API available through a third-party platform. You need to update your developer portal’s public API description and URL. Share or embed a link to the API documentation with both internal users and external clients. API documentation can be embedded in a web page using an <iframe> element. It allows the documentation to be displayed in a frame within the web page.

API Monitoring

API monitoring is a critical part of any API development strategy. API monitoring refers to the process of tracking and monitoring the performance of an API. It can include things like uptime, response time, and error rates. API monitoring can help identify issues with an API and help ensure that it meets its users’ needs.

There are a few key things to keep in mind when setting up API monitoring:

  • First and foremost, make sure you have adequate logging in place. It will allow you to track all API requests and responses to identify potential issues.
  • Secondly, set up alerts so you can be notified immediately if there are any problems with the API. This way, you can resolve issues quickly and avoid disruptions.
  • Finally, consider using a third-party service to help with API monitoring and for valuable insights into the health of your API.

In Conclusion

The article discusses the best practices for building an API. The main thing is to use the right tools. Some standard tools used in API development include programming languages like Java and Python, web frameworks like Django and Flask, and database technologies like MySQL and MongoDB. Design the API for the future, i.e., ensure that the API is flexible and extensible and make sure that it is well-documented, making it easy to use and integrate.

API Trends to Look Forward to in 2023

Posted on by Dinesh

Serverless Architecture

Serverless architectures allow developers to build and run applications without worrying about provisioning or managing servers. It means that developers can focus on building their applications rather than managing infrastructure.

Serverless architectures are also very cost-effective because you only pay for the resources you use. There is no need to pay for idle servers when you’re not using them. It makes serverless architecture an attractive option for many organizations, especially as they are also very scalable. Since there are no servers to manage, it’s easy to scale up or down as needed, making them ideal for applications that experience variable or unpredictable loads.

API as a Product

One trend that is gaining traction is the idea of treating an API as a product. It involves thinking about packaging, pricing, and marketing when it comes to APIs. It’s a shift in mindset that can result in developing APIs that are more successful in the marketplace. For example, SaaS companies that provide an API for weather data could offer products related to the app, like a live-streaming weather feed or historical weather data.

Chatbots

One of the most popular applications for APIs is chatbots. These are small programs that can mimic human conversation to a certain extent, and they’re becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Chatbots are gaining popularity because they provide a more seamless user experience. Chatbots can be integrated with APIs to provide chat functions like customer service, sales, or marketing. A customer service chatbot might be used to answer questions about products or services.

API Analytics

API analytics gives businesses the knowledge and intelligence needed to improve performance and scalability. Tracking usage trends, identifying errors, and analyzing data are some of the ways API analytics can help a given business. With big data at an all-time high, API analytics is necessary for success.

API analytics can track several different parameters using different tools. Some of the few different types of tools available are:

  • API Management Platforms: These platforms offer some built-in API analytics features, but they vary greatly in terms of the depth and flexibility of those features.
  • Log Analysis Tools: These tools are designed to help you analyze log files, which can help track API usage data.
  • Application Performance Monitoring (APM) Tools: These tools help you monitor the performance of your applications, including your APIs. They can help track things like latency and error rates.

API Security

With the rise of mobile and web-based applications, APIs have become a popular target for attackers. To keep your API secure, you need to stay up-to-date on the latest security trends. Here are some API security trends to look out for in 2023:

  • Increased use of API keys: API keys are a common way to authenticate and authorize access to an API. In 2023, we expect to see more companies using API keys as a way to secure their APIs.
  • Improved authentication and authorization: Along with increased use of API keys, we expect to see enhanced authentication and authorization methods, including two-factor authentication.
  • More use of encryption: Encryption is another vital component of API security. In 2023, we expect to see more companies encrypting their data, both at rest and in transit.
  • Better threat detection and response: As attacks on APIs become more sophisticated, companies will need to improve their ability to detect and respond to threats. It will include real-time monitoring and the use of machine learning to predict threats.

Open-source APIs

Open-source APIs are one of the most exciting trends in the API industry. By making their APIs available to everyone, open-source providers can create a community of developers who can contribute to the success of the API. In addition, open-source APIs provide a level of transparency that is not often found in commercial APIs. This transparency can be a great way to build trust with your audience. If you’re looking for a transparent API with a strong community behind it, an open-source API is likely a good fit for your needs.

The Internet of Things

The internet of things, also known as the IoT, refers to the growing trend of interconnectedness between physical objects and devices. This interconnectivity is made possible by embedding sensors and other electronic components into everyday objects, which allows them to collect and share data over the internet.

The IoT is already having a significant impact on several industries, from transportation and logistics to healthcare and manufacturing. And as more and more devices become connected, the potential applications of the IoT are only going to grow.

Wrapping up

It’s more important than ever to keep up with the latest technology trends. Staying current on API design trends will prove critical as they directly impact your business. API growth will continue to increase in the next few years as more companies adopt APIs to improve their business operations. The most popular API categories will continue to be those that enable access to data and services, as well as those that allow for the integration of different systems. As to specific API trends, we can expect to see an increase in the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence and the continued rise of microservices.

What is an API & why is it important for business

Posted on by Dinesh

How does an API work?

An API is a set of programming instructions and standards for accessing a web-based software application. A software company releases its API to the public so other software developers can design products powered by the company’s service. When developers create a new application, they can use the API to request data from the original software. The request is typically made using a URL that includes the API key, which is used to authenticate the request. The data is returned in a format the developer can then use to display information in their own application. APIs are an essential part of the modern web, as they allow different applications to communicate with each other. This communication can be used to share data or to allow one application to control another. For example, the Google Maps API lets developers embed Google Maps into their web applications. Now that we know how APIs work, we’ll move on to the different types of APIs, each serving a specific purpose.

Types of APIs

Open APIs

An Open API is publicly available and accessible to everyone. An excellent example of an Open API is the Facebook API, which allows developers to access data from Facebook. For instance, developers can extract data and functionality from Facebook, and Applications can use this API to programmatically query data, manage the various ads, post in pages and groups, etc. Additionally, posting relevant ads with the extracted data is a direct strategy to improve business and profitability.

Partner APIs

Partner APIs allow access to a partner’s data and functionality. For example, the Google Maps API allows developers to access Google Maps data and functionality within their applications. The Google Maps API will enable businesses to integrate it into their websites and applications, letting companies display maps and directions to their customers and create custom map applications.

Internal APIs

A company uses internal APIs internally to allow communication between different parts of the company’s software. An example would be an API that allows communication between other parts of the company’s website. For instance, developers can create new applications by accessing the company’s backend data and functionality. It helps reduce development time and ensures speed-to-market.

Composite APIs

Composite APIs are commonly used to expose data from multiple data sources through a single API. For example, a composite API can expose data from a relational database, a NoSQL database, and a file system through a single API. It would allow access to data from all of these data sources through a single interface, consolidating several API requests into one API call. Creating an account in an eCommerce application is a good example. One account leads to creating a User ID, Order Number, Adding an item to the cart, changing order status, etc.

Different APIs are emerging almost daily, playing a significant role in business success.

Why APIs are important for business

As the world becomes more and more connected, businesses are finding that they need to be able to communicate with each other to be successful. This is where APIs come in. It includes everything from two different websites sharing data to a mobile app connecting to a database. APIs are essential for businesses because they allow other systems to connect and share data, improve efficiency and accuracy, and help create new features and services. For example, a company may use an API to update its customer database automatically when a new customer signs up on its website. It saves the business from manually entering the data, which can be time-consuming and prone to human errors.

Another example is when a company uses an API to connect to a third-party service. One such service is a payment processor, allowing businesses to outsource some of their functionality and focus on their core competencies. Here are three use cases for leveraging APIs for business growth.

Use cases of APIs in business

  • APIs are used to connect disparate systems. For example, an organization may have a customer relationship management (CRM) system and an accounting system. An API can be used to connect the two systems so that data can be shared between them.
  • APIs can expose data or functionality to external parties. For example, a company may have a website that exposes an API that allows third-party developers to access data or functionality to build new applications.
  • APIs can be used to enable new business models. For example, a company may offer an API that allows third-party developers to access its data or functionality to build new applications. The company can then monetize access to the API by charging developers for access or by taking a percentage of the revenue generated by applications built using the API.

The above use cases clearly demonstrate the critical role of APIs and how they can benefit an organization.

Benefits of APIs

There are many benefits of APIs, including, but not limited to:

  • APIs allow third-party developers to access and use your data or functionality
  • Enable you to easily add new features or functionality to your product or service
  • Increase your reach by making your data or functionality available to a broader audience
  • Facilitate collaboration by allowing others to contribute to or build upon your work
  • Generate revenue by charging for access to your data or functionality

To wrap up

There is tremendous codependence, leading to endless possibilities for applications to become integrated. Furthermore, it opens the door to innovation, allowing for better ways to leverage advanced technologies to thrive in this digital-first era.

In conclusion, an API is important for businesses because it allows businesses to interact with other businesses and customers in a way that is both efficient and secure. It also allows businesses to offer their services to a wider audience, which can lead to increased sales and profits.

How APIs are influencing the adoption of digital transformation

Posted on by Dinesh

Factors that make APIs critical include:

  • Internal reusability – Businesses that build API-first would have increased reusability internally.
  • Standardization – APIs would become standardized, relying on a machine-readable mechanism to stay connected with partners.
  • API as a product – APIs could become an independent product line and marketable as such.

The larger enterprises, realizing the importance of APIs and their integrations, are developing more API-based strategies to build and grow a new ecosystem connecting user experiences and digital best practices. This connected enterprise is focused on more than back-office efficiency. Instead, it applies to the entire gamut, from machines, assets, vendors, and across the supply chain space, including employee management. Enterprises having individual tools and separate business units are moving to find the bond that unites the whole, making integration fundamental to digital transformation.

Why API integration is fundamental to digital transformation

There are three reasons for an integrated enterprise – Connected customer experience, digitized business excellence, and an ecosystem-driven economy.

Connected customer experience

User expectations have gone beyond the PC or desktops. With IoT devices at large, customers are looking for applications that incorporate digital touchpoints, which means enterprises must offer an advanced 360-degree customer experience.

Digitized business excellence

It could be the beginning of customers becoming partners as business excellence relies on offering a complete digital experience. APIs are essential to opening up the back-end services and provide user interfaces and end-to-end workflow automation. This is where intuitive and integrated user interfaces come into play as they help integrate all services on the cloud and on-premises. 

Ecosystem-driven economy

Ecosystem partnerships enhance customer experiences. These partnerships grow out of complex networks of businesses across different industries and provide a seamless customer experience. Such partnerships also facilitate value-add to products and services, and the more partners, the larger the value-add. API integration is key to building an enterprise-wide digital ecosystem, and the ecosystem can be further enhanced through self-service integration with APIs.

Self-service integration with APIs

Enterprises are forging ahead with digitization and integration across all business units. This leads to an open ecosystem. A critical part of such ecosystems is the developer experience with self-service capabilities. After all, several mission-critical integration tools rely on self-service analytics tools and open interfaces. 

While the customers guide this business shift towards an open ecosystem, they are looking for a connection between the tools and external partners. What’s more, opening up the data enhances internal use as well as partner integration.

API adoption with headless styles

One of the big drivers for API adoption is creating customer experiences available on various platforms and devices. A new framework of headless styles is emerging with high expectations of building and supporting digital omnichannel experiences. The aim is to decouple the back office application logic from user experiences at the front end. 

The headless style uses integrated web APIs to communicate, making it a more adaptive model to work with multiple devices. Headless separates the user interface from the code and data that powers the UI. Headless also offers greater flexibility by delivering personalized experiences to anyone connecting with any device. It uses a component-based architecture with the ability to build isolated components. 

Security implications

According to Forbes, the API economy is the ‘next big thing.’ With the increasing number of API-based startups, there is also an increased possibility of security threats. APIs have become useful to varying development styles such as microservices architecture by opening up systems and enabling easy programmability between clients and servers. However, even as the value of web APIs is increasing, there have been multiple API security incidents in 2020.

As APIs are being used for partner integrations, they prove to be a gateway to critical data and assets of the organization. This exposure can jeopardize the business. However, there are a few ways to mitigate API threats:

  • Improve API security strategy: With increasing threats, it is becoming imperative that enterprises invest in security strategies, such as an identity-driven zero-trust system.
  • Anticipating risks: A proactive and deliberate approach must be developed with security analysis at the beginning of the development phase.
  • Full lifecycle protection: 90% of breaches occur during runtime. It makes sense to adopt API security throughout the phases of a development lifecycle. 
  • API inventory: Keeping track of the internal API library and third-party dependencies can address outdated APIs that present significant risk 
  • OWASP: A focus area should be reviewing the threat vectors posed by OWASP’s top 10 vulnerability list and developing responses to them.

Conclusion

APIs’ key role in digital transformation is a given, as they are foundational in new application development. They are embedded into all modern programming and may even be the core fabric of the overall enterprise. Therefore, it is critical to improve the overall API security and meet all compliance requirements even as the role of APIs expands and becomes integral to business growth.